Book 215 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: Beware of “The Expert”

Book – Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (Part 2 of 5)

Book Description:

In his mega bestseller, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, world-famous psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think.

System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation―each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives―and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble.

Reflection:

I don’t want to be an expert of anything in this world, not even myself!

I used to crave the idea of one day becoming an “expert” in my field. Putting in my 10,000 hours of mastery in my field and becoming that go to person that people come to for council and advice on how to navigate the world of sales and marketing. To feel confident and reassured that I would have all the answers for the people that I would one day lead. To be seen and revered as the HIPPO (Highest paid person in the office) that would have the right answer when no clear direction could be found.

I’m terrified of even thinking of becoming that person someday if I’m being honest.

It terrifies me because I remember how I felt and who I was becoming before Emilia was born. Before Emilia, I was very supremely confident that I knew myself inside and out, felt that I understood this world and how it all worked, and most importantly that I had control of my life plan toward mastery and achieving my goal of becoming an “expert” in my field one day.

Then, everything changed in the span of 39 short days of Emilia’s life on this Earth.

I went from knowing myself, having a plan, and being on a clearly defined path to becoming an expert…to realizing that I didn’t know anything at all about how this world truly works. To say I was humbled would be the understatement of the century. This world brought me to my knees, and I was left with nothing but questions with no answers.

As I slowly found my way out of the darkness through the help of my daughter’s spirit, one of the key lessons I learned was the realization that I don’t want to be an expert at anything in this life anymore, not even myself.

Finding myself on a path to becoming an “expert” again terrifies me, because I now understand the truth that it doesn’t exist. The irony is that the path toward mastery or becoming an expert at something is such an easy trap to fall down time and time again. The path to mastery is intoxicating, addicting, enchanting, and rewarding. As a matter of fact, I’m sometimes a little scared that I’m finding myself becoming an “expert” in being Chris Sears again during this Year of Magical Learning Journey and that scares the hell out of me.

It scares me because I find that I’m sometimes letting myself relax a little more these days and feel like my life is back to the safety, security, and promise that today I know what I’m doing and where I’m going again like I felt before Emilia came into my life. However, deep down I now know that isn’t how this world works anymore. Even though I know this, the pull towards progressing into an expert in something is so strong that I find it hard to turn it off and walk away because I really am learning so much, understand so much more, and have a lot to share with this world.

This world can be so damn confusing sometimes! What do you do? How do you live? While I don’t know anything, here is my best guess at a solution to this dilemma…Balance.

If life were a spectrum between thinking we knew nothing and all and thinking we knew everything, I think it is naturally easier to find yourself walking casually toward thinking we know it all without even realizing it. My reasoning is that, in my experience, one can only get knocked back to knowing nothing at all if you unintentionally have an atomic bomb dropped in your lap, which is extremely rare (Thank God). On the other side of the equation, every day of your life is an opportunity to take a tiny step toward perceived mastery. That feeling of growth and progress can become addictive…even if it isn’t real.

My goal in life is to try and walk that delicate line to find the balance that exists somewhere between striving for mastery, but never forgetting that no matter how far you get that you still don’t know anything in this life. This isn’t easy, but neither is life.

If I ever again find myself starting to think that I’m acquiring enough knowledge in a specific domain to feel like I’m approaching “expert” status again, here is my plan to systematically bring myself back down to a happy middle point without the need of an atomic blast to wake me up like before.

1. Visit my daughter’s grave and remember that day everything changed in an instant from a path of mastery to back to square 1.

2. Revisit the Year of Magical Learning reflections to remind myself of this journey that I’m currently on and all the joy a life filled with asking questions and seeking knowledge can bring if you remain open to the idea that you don’t know anything.

3. Remind myself of the dangers of becoming an expert by revisiting this quote from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind “If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open the everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind, there are few.” – Shunryu Suzuki

Thanks again Year of Magical Learning Journey for this great reminder to stay on the balanced path of always living life with less certainty, more inquiry, and to get back to work as we are only still just at the beginning.

Knowing stuff may seem cool for a minute, but not knowing stuff is pure magic!

Question: How do you find balance between knowing and not knowing in your life?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? - An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman